AG and leaders should speak more in BM, says Rais

PETALING JAYA: Attorney General Tommy Thomas along with politicians and leaders alike should be speaking more Bahasa Malaysia, rather than English, said Tan Sri Rais Yatim.  

The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia member said that politicians and leaders should speak the national language at official events.  

"I would suggest that the leaders in the country show some love for our country by speaking in our national language. If we Malaysians don't do it, who will?  

"They lead by example and speak in Bahasa Malaysia. Not at every instance, but I believe they should be using the language more," Rais told The Star on Friday (July 6).  

Rais, who is a lawyer by profession and former socio-cultural adviser to the government, said that this should be applied to the courts, ministers, deputy ministers and parliamentarians.  

With reference to the incident where Thomas requested to speak in English in court, Rais said that English may have been the chosen language because there were international media in the courtroom reporting on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's case.  

"But we must also consider that a very large cross section of Malaysians are following the case. Shouldn't we also attend to Malaysians rather than those from overseas?  

"In my view, all preliminary statements should be delivered in Bahasa Malaysia at the very least. Not every word has to be in Bahasa Malaysia, but at least the general phrases should be in Malay," he said.

Thomas was forced to cancel a planned press conference on Wednesday (July 4) after a group of Najib's supporters turned rowdy after chanting "Bahasa Malaysia", "Melayu" and "Hidup Melayu".  

Thomas was apparently being heckled by the supporters who had demanded that he use Bahasa Malaysia in his press conference.  

Rais highlighted that the Federal Constitution states that Bahasa Malaysia is the national language and the language used for official purposes.  

"We should respect the Constitution. We are 60 years into independence, and in my view, Bahasa Malaysia should no longer become an issue of contention," he said, adding that the language is already entrenched in our system.  

"Leaders should speak Bahasa Malaysia out of love and patriotism," said Rais.  

However, Rais also acknowledged the importance for Malaysians to master the English language.  

He attributed the low level of English proficiency in Malaysia to the education system.  

Rais commented that Malaysians have very "rojak" English that is very "mixed up".  

"Our children are not exposed sufficiently to the language, and our English teachers are not those who have mastered the language," said Rais.  

He said that more focus should be given to the language, rather than inserting it into the education system as an afterthought.  

Rais also urged the Government to do more in preserving our indigenous languages.  

"We are not paying attention to culture, and if we do, they are drawing on culture through the annex of tourism.  

"But we should be looking at culture through the point-of-view of languages," he said.  

On top of students learning Bahasa Malaysia and English in schools, Rais said that the Government should ensure students take up Mandarin, Tamil or indigenous languages.  

"We should ensure that students learn these local languages, if this is not done, we are in the wrong lane," he said.

"I do hope that the Pakatan Harapan Government acknowledges this issue. We are losing the language of our indigenous people. We should be doing more to ensure that we don't lose this culture forever," said Rais.